Twin Thing
by witchlight
Summary: Wow finally updated. A real shortie. Buffy Faith's past before they meet as slayers but very fictional. Please RR
1. Sistely love

"Hah that's mine and with 3 houses.  I think that makes you bankrupt Faith."

"Aww come on B I'll give you all I've got plus I'll do your dishes tomorrow."

"No way faith I win. Yes!" A tiny blonde girl was laughing whilst a dark haired girl of the same age pouted.  On the floor lay a game of monopoly with green houses scattered across the board.  With incredible speed Faith darted at the blonde girl pulling her to the floor where she tickled her mercilessly.

"Mom" The blonde girl gasped for breath as she giggled uncontrollably.  "Mom."

"Buffy? Faith?  What's happening?" The girls' mother stuck her kindly face around the door.  "Faith get off your sister.  Are you OK Buffy honey?"

"Five by Five mom."

"Hey that's my saying!" Faith stuck out her bottom lip again.  "Give it back"

"Just make me!"

Joyce sighed as Faith began chasing Buffy around the house.  She sometimes wondered how she coped with the twins.  Not that she'd trade them for anything.  Still they had a lot of energy even for seven year olds.


	2. Coming and Going

"Happy birthday to you,  happy birthday to you,  happy birthday dear Buffy and Faith,  happy birthday to you."

Faith grinned excitedly at her twin as they simultaneously took huge breaths and each blew out the eight candles on their cake.

"Presents" Buffy screamed excitedly and ran to the pile in the corner of the room.   Feverishly she tore the paper from various boxes barely pausing to look at the contents, Faith hot on her heels.  Faith found a card in her pile with writing she didn't recognise.  Reluctant though she was to pause her present opening curiosity made her open the envelope. The card inside was pink.  Faith screwed up her nose, she didn't like pink.  Inside the card read:

_Dear Faith,_

_Happy Birthday.  I can't believe it's been so long since I saw you last.  It will never be so long again because guess what you're coming to live with me!  _

_See you soon honey._

_All my love_

Dad 

Faith looked at her mum her eyes wide in disbelief, she knew there would be no arguing.  Joyce looked back at her daughter and choked back a sob.  She held out her arms but Faith walked straight out the door.  When Joyce followed Faith to her room she found her pulling all her clotes out of her wardrobe, a holdall on the bed and a steely look on Faith's face.

"Honey stop this you're not going for a little while.  You know I don't want to lose you don't you darling."

"Why do I have to go Mom?  Why me and not Buffy?"

"I don't know darling.  Your dad filed for custody, I tried to block it for ages but he finally won.  You know we both love you though, I just wish we could both have both our twins.  I guess this is the closest we're going to get."

Faith nodded but her heart hardened slightly against her mother and for the first time she felt bitterness against her twin.  Much as she and Buffy bickered they shared a deep affection for each other and a connection that seemed to run between their souls.  People thought it was just a twin thing but the future proved otherwise.

Over the next few days Faith gradually grew more and more distant.  Buffy didn't quite understand what was happening but was upset by the growing frostiness with which Faith treated her.  She grasped that Faith was going away but until the day her dad arrived didn't fully realise that it was forever.

"Hey there Buffster" called Hank as he spotted his daughter's blonde head.  He gave her a hug as she came to greet him but as soon as Faith appeared Buffy felt like an outsider.

"Bye honey" Joyce whispered as she held her daughter close, rivers running from her eyes.  She placed a silver necklace around Faith's neck and held her as if she'd never let her go.

Buffy pulled her sister from their mother's grip and gave her a hug. "You Ok Faith?"

"Five by Five B, Speak to ya soon."

And with that Faith and her father left leaving Joyce and Buffy to live their own lives.


	3. Separation

For a while the twins kept in close contact but soon Faith's new life became hectic and she forgot to 'phone or write.  Buffy was a little hurt, she still didn't understand why Faith had gone but she was also busy with other things.  Besides, she always knew if Faith was Ok the connection between them wasn't weakened by distance and when Faith threw a hissy or jumped for joy it was always Buffy, miles away, who knew why.

            On their 9th birthdays the twins sent each other cards and presents but after that even tenuous communications petered out.  Buffy would perhaps have tried harder to keep in touch with Faith if she hadn't seen how much pain her mother felt whenever she received a letter or 'phone call from the daughter she couldn't see.  Faith simply wasn't bothered.  Her father didn't encourage her to strengthen old ties, so as long as she knew her sister was alive and well all was 5 by 5.  By the time her bruises started appearing Faith hadn't spoken to her sister in 2 years.  Buffy still could tell that something was wrong but neither of them listened much to the connection any more.  It was kind of a mortal danger warning otherwise things were just too confusing.  Maybe if they used it more things would have been different but maybe different would be bad, who knows?

            Faith wasn't helpless by any means.  She taught herself to fight both defensively and offensively but Hank Summers was a man not to be crossed.  He could quite easily throw his daughter across a room if he so wished and frequently came close to doing so.  It was lucky that Faith didn't easily hurt and healed quickly but she still missed days of school and got herself a name with social services.  Once again Faith hardened her young heart and as she did so she seemed to grow older, acting in a way alien to most pre-teens.

            As time wore on Faith grew more and more headstrong.   She learnt how to keep her emotions under wraps, although she always felt them to the extremes.  This combination gave her quite a reputation and very few kids dared to cross her, unfortunately her father still did.  Faith also grew more beautiful with long raven coloured hair, striking eyes and a slim, toned body.  Buffy also grew more beautiful with time, her heart was kind and her spirit shone beyond the sulkiness that comes with teenage years.

            If someone was watching both twins, as perhaps someone or something was, they would have seen two winding paths, both going through shadows and sunlight, up hills and through brilliant valleys with similarities and great variations but not meeting until…..well that's for later.


	4. Light and dark

Faith's shadows bruised her body and sculpted her mind. Her lights were few and far between but her one true light shone brilliantly.  She found solace in one person and spent time with her when things were at their darkest allowing her light to show even more splendidly against the bleakness.  Faith would sit in the sunshine of her company unburdening her aching heart as she could with no one else.  Sometimes she physically worked them off.  In the small, cosy apartment she began to think of as home Faith could practise fighting until she had barely enough energy to get to her own bed.

            Buffy's path was as a whole lighter and simpler.  She loved and was loved by her mother and her friends and spent many fun-filled days in their company.  She would smile as she cartwheeled and flipped in the gym or sat chatting or wandered idly around shopping malls.  She seemed like any other girl in LA and her shadows fell as any other's; small trials, arguments and hurts.

            Yet where the two paths ran parallel, that was where the darkest shadows lay.

Seriously short but I'm getting way too into the imagery, action in the next chapter.  Please please please review!(And my other stories)


	5. The chosen ones

It was in their fifteenth year that the twins' lives took a drastic turn.  For Faith it was less traumatic, violence was a day to day deal and a home life didn't really feature in her priorities.  In fact time spent away from Hank was much appreciated.  When Faith heard the 'Into every generation speech' and that Miss Spencer was her watcher their friendship was sealed. She spent more and more time with Miss Spencer, fighting, now with weapons previously hidden in a locked trunk in the bedroom and relishing every minute she could let loose without being afraid of her father.

            'Into every generation a slayer is born.  One girl in all the world, a chosen one.  One born with the strength and skill to hunt the vampires, to stop the spread of evil.'  Strange to think how those few lines could have such different effects on two people.  They darkened Buffy's life but to hear them when things were at their brightest made things feel like a spiral into blackness.  Merrick's revelation was hard to bear, unlike faith Buffy didn't want to escape from her life but to live it.  Her relationship with her mother grew more strained as she was out late and more secretive than ever.  Fighting was new to her and it took her a while to learn how to control the powers she got landed with.  

            Each day Buffy grew more and more lonely, she found herself having to make excuses to friends for why she couldn't go out.  Instead she spent time in the gym so that the physical abilities she possessed were enhanced to a level unforeseen.  Each night she patrolled the cemeteries, between them the twins racked up a huge number of kills but very few people knew of their connection.  Neither of them knew the other was a slayer, each believed themselves to be the only slayer, the chosen one.

            Merrick could have known otherwise but if he did he followed the time honoured watcher tradition of revealing only 'need to know' information, maybe he simply ignored Faith- it wouldn't be hard.  He had a slayer and there was only meant to be one, why waste energy on someone who disrupted the teachings of time?  Maybe he didn't know, Buffy certainly didn't.  Miss Spencer didn't know about Buffy.  She had explained to Faith that she didn't work with the council.  She offered Faith a watcher from the council but there was no way Faith wanted to go through her life without her best friend.  So the pair worked together and worked harder to cope with the lack of support they received, many council members simply disregarded Faith, concentrating their knowledge on aiding Buffy.

            The twins continued to live their separate lives, each fighting evil with everything they had, neither giving in to the steep hill in front of them and yet neither using the silver safety rope that still held them together.  To be honest it lay forgotten, just sparkling every now and then but fading rapidly to invisibility.


	6. Mirrors

I am so sorry this has been so long coming, I've had it written for ages but the chapter felt unfinished.  I got fed up waiting for inspiration so I'm posting it anyway.  Hope you like!

'Just another day' Buffy thought as she finished her morning run and fought the urge to crawl back into bed.  Instead she showered quickly, pulled on a denim skirt and pink off the shoulder top and stood infront of the mirror deciding whether to do her hair up or leave it.  She decided to leave it, loose curls flowing over her shoulders and with a touch of make up and a pair of heels Buffy was ready for school.

            "Bye Mom" she yelled as she headed towards the-oh so not-highlight of her day.  Things hadn't been going well lately, slaying was wreaking havoc with her sleeping patterns not to mention her grades.  The day went like any other, lessons-boring, lunch-boring mindless gossip that Buffy couldn't believe she had once thrived on (somehow risking her life nightly really put things in perspective for her on that front anyway), training-boring-it just wasn't such a challenge anymore, then cheerleading practise.  Finally a part of the day that was her choice-no parent, or teacher, or …watcher, darn it there he was.  Buffy backflipped off the top of the pyramid, receiving several admiring glances, and jogged over to Merrick.  "So, what's up?"

            "There's a new gang in town.  Can you do some reconnaissance tonight?"

            "Some painting?"

            "Some patrolling"

            "Oh, sure thing."

                                                ~*~

            Faith looked at herself in the mirror with some disgust.  She just didn't suit the bridesmaid's dress, didn't feel comfortable in it either.  The only good thing about it was the sash that hid a stake in the small of her back.  A sullen face stared back at her from the mirror, Faith grimaced at her reflection and resolutely pulled out a deep red lipstick.  She applied it heavily smiling at the contrast it made with the pale pink of the dress.

            "Are you ready Faith?" Hank's voice, fully sober for once, called.  Faith tool one last look in the mirror and opened the door to the church.

                                                ~*~

            Buffy pulled open her bedroom door catching sight of her reflection in the mirror.  A petite blonde girl dressed in black for fighting followed her out the door.  Buffy felt the stake tucked in the back of her waistband and, reassured, stepped outside.

                                                ~*~

            Faith felt even more uncomfortable in the church with everyone's eyes on her.  Something felt wrong though she couldn't place what it was and her worry increased with every step she took down the red-carpeted aisle.  Faith tried to smile but it was forced and the red lipstick made her look faintly evil.  To be honest Faith felt a little evil-it was her father's wedding day and she hated it, what kind of daughter was she to resent being bridesmaid to her future step-mom?  In retrospect Faith realised her feelings were probably spot on, the wedding was the start of a whole new hell and the light at the end of the tunnel was growing fainter.

                                                ~*~

            Buffy's slayer senses were sounding alarm bells in her head.  She just knew that there was great evil afoot and it wasn't of the usual variety.  In a large crypt Buffy found the source of her discomfort and the hide out of Merrick's gang.  She watched as the hord of vampires completed strange rituals around a blazing fire then followed as a pair left.  They headed towards the town but Buffy's stake soon put an end to any thoughts they had of a midnight feast.  Soon dust piles were all that remained of the soulless creatures making the score two to the slayer, not out nil to the vamps, two out.

            For the next week Buffy continued to pick off the gang members one or two at a time but the gang itself grew more numerous.  The co-operation of the creatures put fear in Merrick's heart but he was too professional, too reserved to share his fears with his slayer.  Maybe he should have.

                                                ~*~

            So two souls headed into darkness with their guiding light ever dwindling.  One a mirror image of the other, as different as blonde and brunette and yet made of the same.  A winding path through treacherous terrain and only their own reflections to show where they are headed, but remember the reflection shows only distortion and when the mirror breaks you can be sure bad luck will follow.

(Nothing meant by the blonde/brunette comment just that B+F are blonde and brunette respectively)  Please review!!!!!!


	7. Learning

Hey, bet you thought I'd abandoned this story but no its still going.  Arghhh maths exam tomorrow which is partly why this chapter isn't so great-kinda distracted.  So not a lot of things happening but there are little hints.      

Two tunnel entrances loomed on the horizon.  They were surrounded by climbs too tough to tackle, the only way to reach the far side of the sheer cliff ahead was to go underneath and so each twin entered their own underground world.  The tunnels grew darker with time, littered with weapons and hurt.  There was a guiding rope in each, glimmering like that silver bond now forgotten.  Neither walker noticed how frayed the shining fibres were becoming and how thin the ropes.

            Each of Buffy's days grew more perilous as patrolling saw more and more vampires and more and more blood.  Slaying was still a dark secret that shrouded every part of her life and only one other person knew.  Deep inside the darkness there was a spot that was even more opaque, a solid mass of black marbled with red that was invisible to everyone.  Buffy would not even let herself acknowledge that dense sphere of pain that ignorance caused.  For those around her ignorance was bliss, the sun shone on them and even when it did not the stars lit the sky.  They never presumed there was a place as dark as Buffy's tunnel, even Joyce who lived her whole life teetering on the edge had no knowledge of her daughters' paths.  So the world moved on with its secrets and its gossip, its triumphs and its minor falls but only Merrick cared to lift the tiniest portion of the weight from Buffy's shoulders leaving the rest to fall heavier because even those closest to her failed to recognise the signs.

            The gang preyed on Buffy's loneliness, drawing her into the fight that was taking over her life.  As she fought its members Buffy gradually learnt more.  She learnt their fighting patterns, their weaknesses.  She learnt their hangouts and their leaders.  She learnt who their ultimate loyalties were to but did not know of their aim.  She imagined them to have some ultimate plan, some scheme to destroy humanity or the world.  Had she known that there were only two lives they planned on taking, well who knows if the outcome would have been any different.  Probably not.

            Faith was learning still, perfecting skills that had been part of her since the bruising started. Faith learnt to push herself to the limits, beyond them at times as she trained and put her skills into practise. She learnt how to hide within herself, to shut out the rest of the world.  Faith learnt to pretend that nothing hurt her, that only she could hurt others but the threads of pain were accumulating like a ball of wool inside her, another layer with each bruise.  Faith learnt that she could not use her strength against people; no matter what else she killed she was unable to retaliate against her father.  She learnt to accept his abuse, the physical acts of his disregard for her that increased with his lust for his second wife. Faith learnt how to avoid other people and so barely saw her new stepmother, when she did though there was still the strange feeling inside her, like a shock of static electricity or a warning of some kind.  Though she never hurt Faith directly the young slayer knew her influence would show against her skin.  Even with Miss Spencer she was retreating, learning to feel that she did not deserve the respect and care her watcher gave so freely.   Faith learnt two ways to release her anger, vamps and boys.  It had been a long time since she had true friends and so her relationships were short and violent.  The vampires she staked, the guys she left.  One night for some, more for none.  Faith learnt that there was no release for her pain and so the ball inside her grew and solidified, marbled red and black.

So, copying Sam 453- Cookies for reviewers.  Two for anyone who can guess what's going to happen with Faith and her parents.


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